Chances
by ps.iloveyou1863
Summary: 17 year old Steph Reese just lost both her parents. Now she lives with her drug obsessed brother and her aunt. When she meets Kyle, what shes always believed, changes forever. I suck at summarys, so dont judge story by it!
1. Dear Diary,

Prolouge: Dear Diary,

August 24th 2009

Dear Diary,

_Bristol has always been the small, peaceful town that I have known and loved. It's always been the same, never has it changed. It's twenty miles outside of Hartford, and it's easy to get too. It's not too big but not to small…it's perfect. Well, it's perfect for me. Everyone does their own thing and that's how it goes around here. But right now it feels so different. It's the way I never could imagine it being. When the plane landed at the airport just a week ago I knew it was Bristol. As Emma was driving home, the streets looked familiar but they didn't feel like the streets I have known all my life. I remember when Emma was driving home I was thinking how much mom would have missed me. She was probably at the door waiting for the car to pull into the driveway. When we pulled up into the driveway I hauled out my luggage and ran inside. But my heart was disappointed to walk into an empty house. It was a house, and it looked like mine, but I did not even recognizing it. This couldn't have been the house I have lived seventeen years in. But, this familiar house was mine; the feel of it wasn't mine. It was too different without both parents. I recall pulling my bags up the stairs and walking to my untouched room. It looked like one of those preserved rooms in a museum. The memory that stuck in my mind the most is seeing the innocent Ashton walk into his room dazed and confused. I secretly watched him look around his room and then walk to mom's room to find nothing, nothing but furniture and books. Then there was me. My room didn't feel the same. It was my room, the same room I have had since I was born. This was the same room that Jessica and I had a sleepover in and I broke my leg in the attempt to do a cartwheel. And this was the room that I had gotten my first kiss from some boy named Oliver back in seventh grade…but why did it feel so different? The old feeling in my heart had come back. The feeling of pain and suffering. Ever since I was little I've learned how painful life can be. It's never fair and it won't always be good. Most of the time life isn't going to be reasonable no matter how hard you try or want it to be. It's plain and simple, and that's how it goes. That's at least how it goes around here. I really don't know why I'm writing in this diary right now. I got it six years ago and this is the first time I have ever used it. For six years it has been placed on my shelves never being touched or used. It acted as a decoration for my shelves, and truthfully I never even noticed the diary. That was until today. My mom got this diary for me days after dad died back in '02. She said I should write how I used to feel in it. I hid my depression when I was younger very well, but my mom saw through my act. She knew me to well. That was when I was ten, I was in fourth grade but I remember it so vividly. Now seven years later I am a junior in high school. I'm only 17 years old and I can't even explain how life is so hard and cruel to me. Even after dad died I still thought I had hope with my mom. And I did for a while. But that while went so fast. I had that hope until she died in May. After that I felt like I had lost everything. Aunt Emma keeps saying that however good or bad a situation is, it will change. She quotes things she reads, but I don't blame her. She tries anything to get Ashton and me to be happy. I'm dealing with this better than Ashton though. Even I'm surprised about that. It's so hard to see him go through something like this. It's hard for him…and it's hard for me. But it's too painful to think about right now. I just have to keep my mind clear. Keeping my mind clear is pretty hard. Here I am at 4:15 in the morning to nervous and scared to sleep. It's rare for me to be scared now. I had never been one to afraid take risks, but it's like I'm terrified to even try anything new. But this, this wasn't even new! This was school for crying out loud, it's only school. It's the same school I have been going to since freshman year, all my friends go to it, and I know everyone, so why am I just so scared? This will be easy; this is going to be a great year. I have to make it the best. Even if it kills me…_

I stopped writing. I looked at the neat black script on the page. It ended with a dot, dot, and dot and it was like my mind had stopped. I was either to nervous or too tired to write any more. I couldn't do anything else. I was done with worrying right now. I'm too weak to think about any more disasters that are awaited. I placed the mint colored diary along with my pen onto the night table next to my bed. I turned the switch on the lamp beside me off. I was blinded by darkness and silence. Everything was still. Tiredness came over me easily after and my eyes closed.


	2. A New Beginning

Chapter 1:

A New Beginning

A loud knock on my door startled me, waking me up from a deep sleep. "Steph, get up. First day of school." The exhausted voice of my Aunt Emma said from the other side of the door. I slowly opened my eyes to find my room bright and cheerful. It was unlike me right now. I rubbed my face and sat up in bed. The clock read 7:45 and I sighed. It was so early, why was I up? After a whole summer of waking up in the middle of the day, waking up this early was exhausting. I went to the window seat of my room and sat down looking out and day dreaming. The wind blew the trees gracefully as they slowly swayed in harmony. After a while of staring out my window I finally forced myself to go shower and finally get dressed. I threw on a pair of dark blue jeans and a long sleeved V-neck maroon shirt. I wasn't trying to impress anyone I just wanted a change of scenery. I wanted something different. I went to the door and grabbed my keys, and checked my appearance one last time before I walked quickly downstairs. "Morning." Emma said as I walked passed her. She was more like a friend than an aunt to me. Ashton and I never referred to Emma as our Aunt. Morning Emma." I said. "Excited?" She said with the slightest bit of hope and a smile as fake as mine. "For school? Hardly." I told her truthfully. I left out the parts about being scared and nervous. "Is there coffee left?" I walked over to the coffee maker was and I grabbed a cup. Ashton was there already pouring coffee into his mug. "Right, breakfast! We have cereal, pancakes, bread, uhh…" Emma said franticly looking through the pantry. "It's all about the coffee Aunt Emma." I said. "Since when do you drink coffee?" She asked me confused. "You've only lived with us a few months, you'll get used to it." I walked to the table and looked through my packed bag. In the corner of my eye I saw Ashton go to one of the cabinets and reach to one of the shelves. He reached a white bottle with a label that read 'Ashton J. Reese'. I frowned but I didn't want him to see. In that little white bottle contained pills for his depression. He's been taking those pills for four months now. He popped two tiny pills into his mouth and swallowed following a sip of coffee. Those were the same pills I took, but I got off of them in July. It was almost like he was addicted to them. Ashton turned to pills for his own comfort. "Do you need to pack anything? Here are your bags and some extra pencils." Emma's voice took me out of my day dreaming. "I got it Em. I'll see you later." Ashton said taking the keys and his bag from the counter and he walked out the back door. Emma stood there looking at the door and she turned to me, "He's not okay, is he?". "Not for now he's not." I said picking up my bag and my keys. I walked towards the front door but I suddenly stopped in my tracks. I turned around and walked back to Emma. I gave her a quick hug. "I'll see you later. Have fun at work." I waved and shut the door. I stopped on the doorstep and took a deep breath. A fresh new day was waiting ahead of me and it was either going to be great or terrible. I was done with feeling nervous and I dealt with the terrible feeling in my stomach. I opened my car door and threw my bag in the passenger's seat and I sat myself down in the driver's seat. I started up the car and drove out of the driveway.

In just five miles I pulled into the student parking lot of Bristol High school. It's your typical public school with the same type of people you can find anywhere else. Today it seemed different. I felt as if there were hundreds of eyes watching me and they wouldn't stop staring. The school seemed so much different from how it was this past May. Everything that happened just months ago felt like centuries ago, and everything was off to a fresh start. Everything seemed more depressing in the school. The students, the school itself, and then there was Ashton. He parked right near my car. He was the unhappiest of all the students that I could see. He was just getting out of his car and he gave me a look. His face filled with resentment of having to even step a foot anywhere near the school. No smile was on his face and his eyes looked down to the ground. He was my little brother and it was hard to even imagine that right now. I cut off the engine and grabbed my bag. I carefully opened the car door and took one last deep breath. This was it. I could do this, I couldn't doubt myself. I stood up from the car and shut the door. It was school; same school, mostly the same people, and the same friends. I hadn't talked to most of them all summer. "Steph!" I turned and looked behind me. My best friend Jessica Woods yelled from a few parking spaces down. She quickly walked over to me. Her wavy long hair bounced as she walked closer and closer "Oh god, Steph." She said and embraced me tightly as she reached me. "Are you okay?" She asked me carefully but intentionally with care. "Yeah I'm fine…I'm all good." I partially lied. "Steph…I know you to well. You're not yourself. Don't hide anything from me because I will find out the truth." She joked around. "Of course you do Jess." I smirked. I hugged her back.

"I am making a firm statement that this year is going to be amazing. All your sad and bad times are done with and you are going to be beyond happy."

I smiled like I haven't smiled in months. "Beyond happy? Oh that'll take a lot but okay" I said happy. "How have you been? I haven't seen you since the middle of the summer." Jessica exclaimed. "And you don't understand how much I missed you. Probably the worst summer yet even after you left. But as you said it's all a fresh start starting right now." I sighed.

"I like how your taking this."

"Me too." I said and smiled as we walked through the crowded hallway.

"Are you ready to explain to everyone?" Her voice said a little nervous.

"What?" I said confused but then I saw them. Three familiar people were walking over to me quickly. There were two girls and one boy. Their eyes were wide and happy. Their smiles were filled with shock and happiness. "Stephanie! Oh my god!" One of the girls said as heads turned in the hallway. Great, now I'm getting attention. Those three people were my friends. These were the friends that I haven't spoken or see in four months. They all looked so differently from before the accident. "Steph! I can't believe it's you!" One of the girls named Monica Jacobs squealed. They all hugged me at the same time.

"Hi." I put on a pretend laugh. They backed away. I looked at each of them. Monica, the first girl had stood there in uncomfortable looking high heels. Her blonde waves of hair sat gently on her shoulder. Monica had been my best friend since I was five. We both had an on off relationship. I guess we were on right now. Monica was your stereotypical cheerleader. Blonde, beautiful, very girl, always happy, can't be seen without a guy…she had cheerleader labeled all over her. The boy next to her had long brown hair. He had bright green eyes and tanned skin. This, was Ben Edwards. The girl next to her had brown straight hair with a light complexion. Her brown eyes were sparkling with hope. She looked to be normal unlike Monica. She wore dark blue converses and jeans. She looked to be just herself and not so preppy. I had no clue who she was, her face we familiar but not recognizable enough. Then I got it, this was Gabriella Hills.

"I missed you guys so much." I said with compassion as I finally recognized everyone.

"We missed you too!" Gabriella said.

"Gabriella Hills, I barley recognized you." I said in awe.

"Like the hair?"

"I love it! Where are those blonde curls?"

"They're gone." She said with a smile, happy with her new appearance.

"I can't believe I haven't seen you guys for so long."

"I know we couldn't believe it either! Well, were all happy your alive!" Monica said, and my smile turned into a frown.

Ben nudged Monica in the stomach and gave her a look. "Monica, shut up. But Steph are you okay?"

I shook my head. "No, no. It's okay, I'm okay. I'm happy to be alive too…"

"Well, were off to first class. What do you guys have?" Ben asked quickly getting off the subject.

Jess and I pulled out are schedules from our bags.

"I have History with Mr. Mitchell." Jess said first.

"I do too…what do you guys have?"

"We all have Honors Chemistry with Mr. Sterling." Gabriella said.

"Oh, I have that fourth period." I informed them.

"Well, so do I." Jess smiled.

"Awesome, we'll see you guys at lunch." Ben said as he pulled both girls along with him in the opposite direction of us. Monica's heels clicked while she walked down the busy hallway.

"What do you think the class is gonna be like?" Jess wondered. "Hopefully better than last year." I said with hope. She laughed."You got that right. Mrs. Marley was a nightmare" We approached the class room slowly since the bell wouldn't ring for a few more minutes. "Jessica!" A girl's voice rang from the classroom we were going into. The girl waved. "Mel!" Jess yelled over the chatter of the hallway. "I'll meet you in there." Jess told me and she ran off to the classroom and left me to walk alone. I walked slowly through the crowded hallways as I saw new faces and old faces. There were people that I hadn't even known that said hello to me. I said hi casually acting like I knew them. I approached the class room and got less tense. As I was about to foot into the classroom I bumped into someone. I slightly gasped and looked up to find a boy that I have never seen before. He was tall, but not too tall. He was taller than me. He had short dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a blue V-neck shirt, dark jeans, and a black leather jacket. He had a mysterious look about him. "I—I'm sorry." I stuttered as I regained my thoughts. "No, it's okay. Go ahead." The mysterious handsome boy politely smiled. "Thanks." I smiled back. I walked towards Jess and her friend. Jess was smiling widely at me. "Well, well, well, look at the new boy." She said almost drooling over him. "Hello, hottie." The girl sitting next to Jess on the tables said. I looked at her. "He's just a guy." I tried to sound reasonable. "A hot guy!" Jess exclaimed trying not to be loud. I looked to the boy and I saw him smile. I rolled my eyes. "Jess, try to be a little bit quieter." She blushed. "I mean he is hot …" I continued shyly. "At least you talked to him! Man would I love to know him." She smiled widely looking at me. "I said three words to him, he said three words back. I'm pretty sure that doesn't count as talking to him." Jess's friend laughed, "She's right Jess. Oh, and by the way, I'm Melissa Sheffield. But you can call me Mel." She said happily and shifted her position on the desk. Melissa looked younger than a junior in high school. She had layered black hair with light green eyes. She wore a very pretty, light yellow tank top with dark blue jeans. She wore sandals which made her look taller than she really was. Without them, she seemed to look short. "I'm Stephanie Reese, but everyone calls me Steph, so that's what I go by." "Where did you go to school before here?" I asked Melissa as I watched the teacher get up and draw squares on the board. "The Galloway School." "Where's that?" "It's in Atlanta. I moved here over the summer." "That's cool. I've always wanted to go there. I mean I was supposed to over the summer but…but it just never happened." I said with a heavy heart. "Oh, that's too bad. It's nice there." "Wait, since you just moved here, how do you know Jess?" I was confused and moved on to the next subject and got over the tight and heavy feeling. "We went to camp together a few years ago and we've stayed in touch ever since." Jess smiled. More and more people walked into the classroom, every person more different than the other. I exchanged my schedules with Jessica and Melissa and it turns out we have more than half our classes together. So far I think the school year is going to be great. Melissa and I were already talking like we've known each other for a while. I was comfortable around her. My thinking is that we're going to be great friends.

There were no desks in the room. There were only tables. Tables paired with two chairs, meaning that we all would be paired with one person. I silently groaned at the thought of being paired up with one of the biggest jerks in the whole school, Nick Harper. As he walked in he looked at Jessica, Melissa, and I. "Hello girls." He paused and looked at me. "Stephanie." He said with a discussed tone. I gave him the same look of discuss back. He rolled his eyes and walked away. Surprisingly I even remember when we used to be friends years ago. Freshman year was when I was popular and that's when everyone wanted to be my friend. I remember I used to get out of my car and people would run over to me. Nick was one of my best friends but after freshman year and after I rejected him, our friendship was over and I guess so was my popularity. "How were you ever friends with him?" Jessica questioned me. "Like I even know any more." I rolled my eyes.

"Class, attention." My teacher called. "Start to take your seats."

Jessica and Melissa sat at the one table and I looked at them trying not to feel like a third wheel. "I'll sit in front of you guys." I told them hoping they would care.

"Yeah, that sounds great! We can all be near each other." Melissa smiled.

I smiled back to her and turned to my table. I sat my bag down on the floor and I looked up the mysterious boy stood before me.

"Can I sit here?" I looked up to see the same mysterious attractive boy.

"Yeah, of course." I said and smiled.

As I was about sit down someone's hands wrapped around my waist and swung me around. I gasped loudly and I saw the mysterious boy's head shoot up and look at me. "Stephanie!" He screamed. He put me down. "Luke I swear do that one more time. You almost gave me a heart attack!" I gave a slight laugh. "Is that any way to be talking to one of your best friends who you haven't seen in four months?" he said. "You could have called." I scolded him seriously. "I tried every number! Your house phone no one answered, your number was disconnected and I even tried your brother's phone." He said desperate. "My phone was crushed in the accident, I got a new one this week." I said. "Oh, but I missed you so much!" He hugged me tight again. "Reese, Harris! Sit down…both f you." The teacher said strictly. Wonderful, I already have a terrible first impression on my teacher.


End file.
